Harris came on Saturday. He tried to bite me multiple times between Saturday and Sunday for putting his collars on. He was corrected firmly for that, but he was also rewarded HEAVILY for allowing me to do that without nasty behavior. For now, first thing in the am is the muzzle, then his gear. If he doesn't attempt a bite while muzzled, lots of reward. If he does attempt a bite, heavy correction. It's rather simple. But now that it's been 2 days since his last episode, I am much more comfortable interacting without the muzzle. It doesn't mean he's "fixed" yet and im still very aware if his desire to bite, but we're getting there. Soon we'll work on his resource guarding of all of his favorite items. But so far, Mr. Harris is doing great!
(I am also controlling his access to everything except water - food, toys, treats, affection...all come as a result of good behavior, and he's learning that very quickly!)
"Balanced training will break your dog". Nope. Took Watson out to the park to work on long leash recall and lo and behold...I forgot the remote! So literally no corrections. Is he recalling to me out of fear or because we make it fun?? You decide.
RUBY, RUBY, RUBY SOHO!!!
Let's not forget Ruby also working on heel and auto sits!
Heel bloopers!
Long leash blooper!!! Working with Rollo on simulated off leash work by dragging a long line until he stepped on the leash which flung my phone from hand!
Rollo V Squirrel
Rollo working on ignoring squirrels. Good job, buddy!
Annie's boots!
As promised, here is Anniie figuring her boots...I mean tap dance shoes! 🤣
Working on "out" with Ginny. When she first came she would NOT let go of a kong/squeaky toy. Now she's learning how to spit out the object of value (Kong Wubba in this case) and back away. It's not "perfect" yet, but well keep working on it!
When night fetch goes wrong cause it's too dark and your dog loses sight of the frisbee in the ocean...."sh*t" means I went and took a chest deep night swim to get the frisbee back 🤣
Don't wish for it, work for it. I hear people all the time say "my dog could never do that....my dog could never hold a down while I walk away...my could never (insert almost anything here!)...." But yes, your dog absolutely can. You just have to put in the work. And once you have a dog you can take anywhere, who will mind its business with kids running around, wait staff going back and forth with trays of food, other dogs, etc, etc....their world opens up immensely and the human side of the leash doesn't have to worry about their dog being insane, harassing other people and pets, etc. It is SO worth it!!
(Oh, and she has no ecollar on. Proof that dogs will listen with our without the collar with enough repition and work.)
Monty holding his place command while my helper Cooper is vacuuming around him. Good job, Monty!
Impulse control in dogs is HUGE.
Kodi (Kodiak) working on his heels before its just too gnarly hot to be outside working.
JB working on his downs @michaelsstores out in the real world. Good job, buddy!
When you're a world clas athlete, but 10 minutes of heel work...at 9 am...in the shade...knocks you out for a power nap.
Oh, Brutus! ❤
Lenni has shown signs of resource guarding before, so we are working on the "out" command. We started with food, which she's pretty good at, but now we're working on "outing" off of humans and affection. Her owners have a baby on the way, so the last thing we need is a dog resource guarding it's owners from a baby/infant/toddler....or anyone for that matter.
Personally, I like to tie the out command to the place command, as you see Lenni default to place when I "out" her. The place command is meant to be a relaxing, "off switch". Additionally we ultimately want the dog to know not to break place and with that frame of mind, it renders an item a dog deems valuable enough to guard safe to approach/pick up/etc.
Cal working on paw handling.
